Warp knitting machine



F. C. SORTON WARP KNITTING MACHINE Dec. 5, 1950 s Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledApril 13, 1948 FIG.I.

' INVENTOR.

/4 T TORNEX Dec; 5, 1950 WARP KNITTING. MACHINE Filed April 15, 1948 F.C- SORTON 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 5, 1950 F. c. SORTON WARP KNITTINGMACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 13, 1948 I INVEN R.

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Patented Dec. 5, 1950 WARP KNITTING MAGI-HN E Fred Charles Sorton,Whitinsville, Mass, assignor to Whitin Machine Wor s, Whitinsville,Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application April .13, 1948, Serial'No. 20,723

This invention relates to warp knitting machines.

In warp knitting machines as heretofore constructed the threading of theguide bars is a somewhat dimcult operation. The present inventionprovides an arrangement whereby the guide bars can be threaded morereadily than heretofore.

i s peaking enerally, this is accomplished by, as it were, hinging theguide bars to the brackets or swing hubs, .so-called, by which the guidebars are-connected to their rock shafts. This permits the guide .bars tobe swung to positions in which the guides are accessible forrethreading. Preferably the .hins ne is at the slide brackets that areinterposed between the guide bars and the rock shaft swing hubs.Provision may be made for locking the hinged guide bars in normaloperation positions, i. e. in their knitting positions with respect totheir rock shafts, and ,for interlocking the guide bars with the Sourceof power by which the knitting machine is driven so that a guide bar canbe swung to its threading position only when the machine is inoperative.Aholder may also be provided to hold the guide bar in a threadingposition. In the case of knitting machines having two or more guidebars, one in front of the other, both may be hinged to swing in the samedirection to threading positions. With such arrangements it issufficient to interlock only the outer guide bar with the source ofpower of the knitting machine directly, inasmuch as this hingingarrangement requires that the inner ,guide bar or guide bars be in..knitting position when the outer guide bar is in knitting position,and hence one interlocking connection will serve for all the guide bars.

The foregoing is illustrated in the accompany..- ing drawings which showthe preferred form of the invention. In those drawings Fig. l is arather sketchy perspective view of a warp knitting machine ofconventional form to which my invention has been applied. Fig. 2 is alarger view at two of the slide brackets supporting the inner and .outerguide ,bars of the machine of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectionof the pertinent parts of the machine adjacent two such slide brackets,the guide bars being shown inkm'tting positions relative to theirmountings. Fig. 4 is a front elevation at one of the slide brackets .ofthe outer guide bar. Fig.5 is a rear elevationofone of the slidebrackets of the inner guide bar. Fig. 6 ,is a vertical section generallysimilar to that .of Fig. 3 but showing .the guide bars in threadingposition and also showing the 8 Claims. (Cl. 66-86) interlock betweenthe hinged gui e bars and the control mechanism .of the machin Fig. 7 isa detail of the blocks of the interlockin mechanism.

In general the machin illustrated in $1 3 drawings comprises .asupporting fram on s ing of .a number of vertical members -,i and hori.-zontal members, some of which are shown at 2, i y coupling the verticalsi together, two parallel yarn tea-ms. one of which is shown a .3. forcarrying the warp threads on spools (shown p y in the d w ya ntensionins devices a part of one of which is shown at 5,, a guide barrock shait l reciprocatable gui e bars 7 and .18 mounted on the rockshaft 5 and carrying the thin yarn guides indicated at la and 8a whichwrap the yarns around the needles, a needle bar 5 carrying the needles(which are bearded needles), a sinker bar to carrying the sinkers whichoperate between adjacent needles, a presserlll serving the variousneedles, a cloth beam i.2't o receive ,the cloth from the needles, twopattern wheels -i'i and i3 for shifting the guide bars El and 8longitudinally in accordance with a pre determined pattern, links 19connecting the guide bars l' and 8 .to the pattern wheels re.-spectively, and mechanism, for the most part not shown,,forrocking theguide bar ,rockshaft sand for actuating the needle .bar, sinker bar,presser and cloth roll in manners that will "be understood from priorpractices with machines of the kind illustrated. The machine is powerdriven by power supplied through a master switch located at, say, 1.3and opened and .closedby longitudinal movement of a controller orcontrol bar it extending across the frontof the machine, Fig. 11, andprovided with a number ,of .oonveniently .reachedhandles It by which theoperator can shift the control bar It to the right to open the masterswitch to stop the machine or place it out of operation, or shift thebar to the left (position shown in Fig. 1) to close the switch [3} tooperate the machine to knit cloth. The con-.

trol'bar is .carried ,ina number .of brackets Lt fastened totheframework of the machine. One

of the warp threads guided by the guides of guide described.

Somewhat as heretofore the outer guide .bar 1 is carried by ,a number ofslide brackets 15 mounted .on a similar number of brackets .Qor

swing hubs 26, so-called, which are mounted non-rotatably andnon-slidably on the rock shaft 6. Similarly the inner guide bar 8 iscarried by a number of slide brackets 28 mounted on a similar number ofswing hubs 29, likewise non-rotatably and non-slidably mounted on therock shaft 6. In accordance with the present invention however the upperslide bar 33 of each bracket 25 is cylindrical, and is carried, and alsois both slidable and rotatable, in a bearing 3| projecting from a plate32 carried by the adjacent swing hub 26. Each bearing 3| is held to itsplate 32 by bolts 33 which pass through vertical slots 34 in the plate32; the slots are to permit the bearing to be adjusted vertically alongtheir plates 32 somewhat. A projection 35 rigidly mounted on therespective plate 32, carries a threaded bolt 36 which is screwed intothe bearing member 3| of the plate and positions the bearing, or helpsthe bolts 33 to position it, along the plate. The purpose of this is toprovide for adjusting the guides la vertically with respect to theneedles; that is to say, by turning the bolts 36 one way or the otherthe bearing members 3| can be raised or lowered, and thereby the guidebar I raised and lowered carrying its guides la with it. Each bolt 36may be provided with a set nut below its projection 35 as illustrated.As customary, a second Slide bar 31 is provided on each slide frame 25.Guide members 38 on the swing hubs 26 provide upwardly open slide waysfor the slide bars 37.

Each plate 32 is slotted vertically at each of its two (upper and lower)ends as indicated at 43 and 44, Figs. 3 and 4, a, block 45 is providedto span each of these slots, and bolts 46 pass through these blocks andslots and are threaded into the respective swing hub 26. These serve tohold the plates 32 to the swing hubs 26 while permitting them to slidevertically on the hub faces as will be understood. The slots 43 and 44are made long enough to permit each plate to slide from a position whereits slide bar 31 is well within its slide way provided by the member38,- Figs. 3 and 4, to a position where the slide bar is well above themember 38. Latches in the form'of sliding bolts 4! set in the swing hubsserve to releasably lock the slide plates 32 in their low positions in.Wh.ch their slide bars 31 are within the slide ways of the guidemembers 38; the outer end of each of these bolts is tapered to enter atapered seat 48 in its plate 32, Figs. 3 and 6, and each is urged towardits locking or latching position, Fig. 3, by a spring 49 back of it.

' The low positions of the plates 32 and guide bar I, i. e. theirpositions in Fig. 3, are their operative or knitting positions, orrather are their operative or knitting positions with respect to, say,the rock shaft 6. While the machine is operating to knit fabrictherefore, it will be observed, the slide brackets 25 with their slidebars 30 and 31 permitthe guide bar I to be reciprocated right and leftby the pattern mechanism, e. g. wheel [7, in quite the same manner asthe slide brackets employed heretofore. In addition however thecylindrical slide bars 30 and their bearings 31 constitute hinges forthe guide bar 1, the axes of which are in line with each other andsubstantially parallel tothe axis of the rock shaft 6. During theknitting operations, and accordingly while the bars 3'! are within theslide ways of the guide members 38, these guide members hold the bars 31to the swing hubs 2B and thus pre vent swinging on the hinges at 303l.When the machine is at rest however, i. e. while the 4 knittingoperations are discontinued, the latches 4'! can be released and theplates 32 raised safely, along the faces of the swing hubs 23, until theslide bars 37 are lifted completely free of the guide members 38. Theguide bar I having first been freed of its pattern links I9, may then beswung on the hinges 3i-3l toward one side of the machine and to aposition whereat the guides la are conveniently accessible forthreading; for example, it may be swung to substantially a horizontalposition as shown in Fig. 6. The bar 1 may be held in such a threadingposition, while being threaded, by, say, a holder in the form of a hookor hooks 53 hooked to one or more of the slide bars 3? and to someconveniently located bar or shaft 56a of the machine. After threading iscompleted the guide bar I can be restored to its operating or knittingrelation of course by again swinging it down until its slide bars 31come to the slide ways of the guide members 38, and then lowering theplates 32 to engage these bars in these slide ways. The pattern link orlinks 19 may then be restored to the guide bar, and the latches allagain allowed to enter their keeper recesses 48.

Obviously the plates 32 and their latches 41, whatever form they mayhave, can be operated in the foregoing manner in various ways, andeither separately or as a unit. Preferably however I interlock them withthe control bar or controller id as before indicated, and preferably Ido this in the manner shown in the drawings. That is to say, a rockshaft 50 is provided extending substantially the full length of themachine; it may be mounted in, say, the swing hubs 26, or in separatebrackets fixed firmly to the rock shaft 3 so as to shift therewith. Ateach swing hub 23 the rock shaft 58 is provided with a member 5i firmlyafiixed to the rock shaft 50 so as to rock therewith. Each of thesemembers 5! has an arm engaging with the adjacent bolt 41 in such amanner as to be able to withdraw the respective bolt 4'? from its seat48 in the adjacent plate 32 as indicated at 52, Figs. 3 and 6, and aprojecting linger 53 extending into a slot 54 of the adjacent plate 32.When the shaft 50 is rocked in such a manner as to withdraw the bolts 17from the various slide plates 32, the projecting fingers 53 serve toraise the slide plates 32, as shown in Fig. 6, to thereby withdraw theguide bars 3? from their notches in the guide members 38. The fingers 53may have enough play in the slots 54 to permit the bolts 4'! to be fullyretracted from their keepers or recesses 48 before the fingers begin toraise the plates 32, as

will be understood from Figs. 3 and 6. One or more arms 53 are affixedto the rock shaft 50 to, the guide bar rock shaft 5, and which is hingedto a connecting rod 62. connecting rod is hinged at 33 to one end of abell crank lever, or one corner of a triangular plate 34, which ishinged at 35 to one of the vertical frame members i of the machine; the

other end, or third corner, of 64 is hinged by a connecting rodbt to anarm .61 fixed to the controller or control shaft H4. The two bars 62 and36 may be adjustable in length as indicated by the screw threads onthem, in order to be read1ly adapted to the operation desired. Also theconnections of the connecting rod 66 to 61" and B4 are loose so as topermit the sliding of the control shaft before mentioned, or the Theopposite end of this,

eii n r arms 61 ay be mounted slidably on the control bar i l but keyedto the bar so as to rock with it An elongated block it, partly encirclinthe control bar is and attached to this bar at some convenient place,and a second elongated block II, also partly encircling the control barbut affixed to the frame of the machine to the left of and adjacent theblock it, Figs. 1 and '7, complete the interlocking mechanism. Fig. 7shows the relative positions of these two blocks when the master switchIt is open so-that the machine is at rest and the guide bar I is in itsknitting position, Fig. 3.

It will be observed that the foregoing mechanism, from the rock shaft 50to the controller 14;, permits the operator to actuate the slide plates32 and their latches 41 by rotating the Controller 01' control bar 14.The full line position of this mechanism in Fig. 6 is its position whenthe latches l! are withdrawn and the slide plates 32 are raised, so thatthe guide bar I can be turned to and occupy its threading position, Fig.6. The blocks 10 and H are so disposed that with the mechanism in thisposition, the block 10 is displaced angularly somewhat from its positionin Fig. 7, so that the adjacent ends of ill and H face each other atleast partially. As a result, the control bar l4 cannot be moved to theleft to close the master switch l3 to start the machine in operationwhile the slide plates 32 are raised. However, when the threading of thebar I has been completed and this bar turned down on its hinges 30 -3Ias before described, the operator can rotate the controller or controlbar [4, say by grasping whichever handle l5 may be most convenient tohim at the moment, and thereby shift the interlock or interlockingmechanism to its dotted line position in Fig. 6. This permits the slideplates 32 to move downward to confine the guide bar 1 to its operationrelation to its rock shaft 6, Fig. 3, as before described; and permitsthe bolts 4! to return to their latching positions, Fig. 3. Also thisturning of the bar I4 brings the block 70 to its position in Fig. '7. Asa result the control bar can now be shifted longitudinally to the leftto close the switch l3 to bring the machine into operation. When this isdone however, block is carried to beside block ll, Fig. 1, so that aslong as the machine continues in operation the guide bar I must remainin its operating or knitting position with respect to the rock shaft 6,and only by first stopping the machine can it again be turned to itsthreading position.

The inner guide bar 8, which guides such threads as 2|, also is hinged,and in quite a similar manner, so that it can be swung in the samedirection as the guide bar and toward the same side of the machine, to aposition where its guides also are accessible for threading, Fig. 6. I.e., to this end each of its swing hubs 29 is provided with a bearing 16which is fastened to the back of the lower end of the hub by a bolt orbolts 11. Conveniently these bolts 11 can be passed through verticalslots 18 in the bearing members so that the height of the guide bar 8,and accordingly the guides 8a, can be adjusted at these bolts H withrespect to the needles. The lower slide bar 19 of each slide bracket 28of the inner guide bar 8 is made cylindrical, and both slidable androtatable in its respective bearing 16. The upper slide bar 80 of eachguide bar bracket 28 is held to the face of its respective swing hub 29normally, i. e. during knitting, by a plate 8| which rests on a spacer6; block 82 and in coop rat on with he fac of he hub providesv a sl d-way- .for the ide. bar durin knittin E ch late m y be e d, o the spacerblock by a sin le bolt 83.

As in the case of the slide brackets 2 therefore, the slide brackets 28provide for the reciprocation of the guide bar 8 by the pattern, e. g.[8, during knitting, and in addition provid for hinging of their guidebar. The platesv 8! have the same function as the guide members 38, thatis to say they confine their slide brackets to the swing hubs during theknitting operations. In addition in the present instance the plates 8!,or their bolts 83, also perform the functions of the sliding bolts 41,in that they constitute latches by which the uide bar 8 is released forswinging. I. e. by loosening the bolts 83 the plates 8| may be swung,Fig. 5,, so as to uncover their respective slide bars 80. This permitsthe respective slide brackets 28 to rotate in their bearings 76 andthereby the inner guide bar 8 to swing to a convenient threadingposition, Fig. 6. By the reverse operations the guide bar 3 can berestored of course to its knitting position relative to its hinges 16,19 and its rock shaft 6.

It will be observed from the foregoing that in arrangements where two ormore guide bars are employed and all are arranged to swing in the tingrelations, and similarly the inner guide bars,

cannot be placed in threading positions unless the outer bar has beenplaced in its threading position previously, a single interlockingmechanism for the outer guide bar serves as an interlock for all guidebars that may be mounted behind'it as well.

It will be understood that my invention is not limited to the details ofconstruction and operation illustrated and described above except asappears hereafter in the claims, nd that the claims are intended toinclude equivalents of the various elements mentioned in them.

I claim:

1. In a warp knitting machine having knitting mechanism includingneedles, yarn'guides to feed yarns to said needles, a guide bar on whichsaid yarn guides are mounted, and a rock shaft carrying said guide bar,characterized by the fact that said guide bar is hinged to the rockshaft on an axis substantially parallel to the axis of the rock shaft,for swinging movement to a threading position remote from the needles,and a holder is provided to hold said guide bar in said remote threadingposition 2. In a warp knitting machine having knitting mechanismincluding needles, yarn guides to feed yarns to said needles, a guidebar on which said guides are mounted, a rock shaft, swing hubs on saidshaft, and slide brackets to which said guide bar is attached,characterized by the fact that said slide brackets are hinged to saidswing hubs on axes paralled to the axis of said shaft, for swingingmovement of said guides to a threading position remote from the needles,and a holder is provided to hold said guide bar in said remote threadingposition.

3. The subject matter of claim 2, each of said swing hubs and itsassociated slide bracket havassaoci mg, slidably rented, one a slide barand the other abearing for the respective slide bar, characterized bythe fact that said slide bars and bearings therefor constitute thehinges by which the guide bar is hinged to the swing hubs, for swingingmovement of said guides to a threading position remote from the needles,and a holder is provided to hold said guide bar in said remote threadingposition.

4. In a warp knitting machine having knitting mechanism includingneedles, yarn guides to feed yarns to said needles, a guide bar on whichsaid yarn guides are mounted, and a rock shaft carrying said guide bar,characterized by the fact that said guide bar is hinged to the rockshaft on an axis substantially parallel to the axis of the rock shaft,and a releasable latch is provided to lock the guide bar to the rockshaft in knitting relation thereto, release of the latch permitting theguide bar to be swung on its hinges, to move said guides to a threadingposition remote from the needles, and a holder is provided to hold saidguide bar in said remote threading position.

5. In a warp knitting machine having knitting mechanism includingneedles, yarn guides to feed yarns to said needles, a guide bar on whichsaid yarn guides are mounted, and a rock shaft carrying said guide bar,and a controller to start and stop the machine, characterized by thefact that said guide bar is hinged to the rock shaft on an axissubstantially parallel to the axis of the rock shaft, and an interlockis provided between said guide bar and controller to prevent hingedmovement of said guide bar to a nonknitting position when the controlleris in machine-operating position.

6. In a warp knitting machine having knitting mechanism includingneedles, yarn guides to feed yarns to said needles, a guide bar on whichsaid yarn guides are mounted, and a rock shaft carrying said guide bar,and a controller movable to start and stop the machine, characterized bythe fact that said guide bar is hinged to the rock shaft on an axissubstantially parallel to the axis of the rock shaft, a latch isprovided to lock said guide bar in knitting relation to the rock shaft,a connection is provided through which said controller can actuate saidlatch, a

block on said controller, and a second block mounted apart from theshaft, said two blocks being so disposed relatively as to block movementof the controller to latch-releasing position while in machine-startingposition and block movement of the controller to machine-starting osttion when in latch-releasing position.

7. In a warp knitting machine having knitting mechanism includingneedles, yarn guides to feed yarns to said needles, at least two guidebars on which said guides are mounted, and at least one rock shaftcarrying said guide bars, characterized by the fact that each of saidguide bars is hinged to the rock shaft that carries it on an axissubstantially parallel to the axis of the rock shaft, and both aremovable around their respective hinge axes from their knittingpositions, relative to the respective hinge axes, toward the same sideof the machine, to move said guides to a threading position remote fromthe needles, and a holder is provided to hold said guide bars in saidremote threading position.

8. In a warp knitting machine having knitting mechanism includingneedles, yarn guides to feed yarns to said needles, at least two guidebars on which said guides are mounted, at least one rock shaft carryingsaid guide bars, and a controller movable to start and stop the machine,characterized by the fact that each of said guide bars is hinged to therock bar that carries it on an axis that is substantially parallel tothe axis of the rock bar, one of said bars is movable around its hingeaxis from its knitting position relative to its said axis toward theadjacent side of the machine, a second of said guide bars is movablearound its own hinge axis from its knitting position relative to itssaid axis toward the other of said guide bars, and an interlock betweensaid controller and the first mentioned of said two guide bars toprevent said first mentioned bar being moved from its said knittingposition when the controller is in machineoperating position.

F. CHARLES SO'RTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany Sept. 27, 1938

